A 130-run onslaught by Jesse Ryder and Brendon McCullum led New Zealand to victory over the West Indies by 36 runs in their Twenty20 match yesterday.
Man-of-the-match Ryder posted 62 and McCullum 59 in a record Twenty20 stand for New Zealand.
It came at a shade under 12 runs an over and ensured a formidable target as New Zealand reached 191 for nine, despite a meltdown after the opening partnership ended.
PHOTO: AP
When the West Indies looked to their talisman Chris Gayle to save the day — after he had dismissed both Ryder and McCullum — they found his usually dependable batting talents were absent.
He was out for one in the second over and the West Indies never came close to the required run rate, finishing at 155 for seven.
■ BANGLADESH V SRI LANKA
AFP, DHAKA
Mahela Jayawardene smashed a solid 129 not out to put Sri Lanka in a winning position on the third day of the opening Test against Bangladesh yesterday.
The Sri Lankan captain hit one six and 15 fours in his 24th Test hundred to help his side post 291-4 in the second innings at stumps for a massive overall lead of 406.
The tourists were in trouble at 18-2 before Jayawardene bolstered the innings with a 135-run stand for the third wicket with Kumar Sangakkara (67) and 138 for the next with Thilan Samaraweera (62).
Paceman Mahbubul Alam struck in the eighth over when he trapped Malinda Warnapura (8) leg before wicket and Mashrafe Mortaza bowled Michael Vandort (6) in the next over.
Jayawardene, 31 years old, and left-handed Sangakkara then kept the Bangladeshi attack at bay with their responsible knocks, batting comfortably against both pace and spin.
The Sri Lankan skipper reached his century in the final session when he hit Alam through mid-wicket for a four.
He punished the bowler again, hitting three successive fours in an over.
Bangladesh got just one wicket in the afternoon session when left-arm spinner Mehrab Hossain had Sangakkara caught behind. The Sri Lankan batsman struck eight fours in his 27th Test half-century.
But there was no respite for the hosts as middle-order batsman Samaraweera gave valuable support to his captain before being bowled by Mortaza off the day’s last delivery.
■ AUSTRALIA V S AFRICA
Score at the close on the third day of the second Test in Melbourne:
• Australia 394 & 4-0
• South Africa 459
SS Lazio on Monday fired the far-right sympathizer who handles their eagle mascot after he posted online a series of videos and pictures of his erect penis. Falconer Juan Bernabe, who has been present at Lazio home matches with Olimpia the eagle since the 2010-2011 season, posted the footage on social media after having surgery on Saturday to implant a penile prosthesis to improve his sexual performance. Lazio said that they had “terminated, with immediate effect” their relationship with Bernabe “due to the seriousness of his conduct,” adding that they were “shocked” by the images. The Serie A club added that Bernabe’s dismissal
Doping fears prevented former US Open champion Emma Raducanu from treating insect bites on the eve of the Australian Open, she said, with players increasingly wary about ingesting contaminated substances. The British player was speaking in the wake of high-profile doping cases involving Iga Swiatak and Jannik Sinner. “I would say all of us are probably quite sensitive to what we take on board, what we use,” the 22-year-old said, recalling an incident on Friday. “I got really badly bitten by, I don’t know what, like ants, mosquitoes, something. I’m allergic, I guess,” she added. The bites “flared up and swelled up really a
‘TOUGH TO BREATHE’: Tunisian three-time Grand Slam finalist Ons Jabeur suffered an asthma attack in her 7-5, 6-3 victory over Colombia’s Camila Osorio Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei yesterday cruised into the second round of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while Iga Swiatek romped into a third-round women’s singles showdown with Emma Raducanu and Taylor Fritz was just as emphatic in his pursuit of a maiden Grand Slam title. Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia, the third seeds, defeated Slovakia’s Tereza Mihalikova and Olivia Nicholls of Britain 7-5, 6-2 in 90 minutes in Melbourne. Ostapenko and Hsieh — who won the women’s doubles and mixed doubles at the Australian Open last year — hit 25 winners and converted five of nine break points to set
Dubbed a “motorway for cyclists” where avid amateurs can chase Tadej Pogacar up mountains teeming with the highest concentration of professional cyclists per square kilometer in the world, Spain’s Costa Blanca has forged a new reputation for itself in the past few years. Long known as the ideal summer destination for those in search of sun, sea and sand, the stretch of coast between Valencia and Alicante now has a winter vocation too. During the season break in December and January, the region experiences an invasion of cyclists. Star names such as three-time Tour de France winner Pogacar, Remco Evenepoel and Julian Alaphilippe